Page 41 of Anathema Codex

"Why don't you go back to moping while I focus on getting us there?" Aftyn sneers and my rage floods back like he reached in and flipped a switch in my head. Before I can even think about what I'm doing, I'm punching his arm and trying to slap him. I feel the car swerve, but all I want to do is hurt him. I want him to feel how I feel on the inside. Like he's carved out a piece of me and tossed it away.

"STOP. THE. FUCKING. CAR." I shout at him between strikes, most of which aren't doing much of anything except putting our lives in danger, but eventually he gets a hand on my shoulder and shoves me hard into the window. My head bounces off it but I don't even feel the ache, and I'm about to launch myself at him again when I realized he's laughing. Hard. He gasps in breath to let out another laugh, holding his hand out toward me.

"Fuck, okay. Okay, Wills. Chill. I'll pull over at that rest stop ahead." Chuckling, Aftyn sweeps his hand back through his hair, glancing at himself in the mirror. The side of his face is a little pink near his temple, and I may have given him a few bruises on his arm, but it's nowhere near enough. Our positions in the car made it too awkward to really get a good swing in, but at least he knows I'm not fucking around anymore.

Crossing my arms, I press myself back into the seat and wait for him to take the exit, bringing us to the parking lot. Just the sight of the rest area makes my stomach clench, and I throw my car door open the second he slides the shifter into park. "Get out!"

"You gotta calm down, Wills." Aftyn is still grinning and laughing under his breath like me wanting to rip his goddamn head off is hilarious. When I yank the driver's side door open, it takes all my self-control not to punch him right in the nose. The way he's smirking at me I can tell he's waiting for it, and I know he can hurt me a lot more than I can hurt him in an even fight.

"Out," I growl through clenched teeth, and he unbuckles his seat belt, raising his hands up as he drops to the ground.

"You know... if you put on some leather, carried a whip, I might really be into this." Aftyn winks at me, and I shove past him to get in the car, but he's leaning on the damn door when I turn around to shut it—and he's not smiling anymore. "But, unless you plan on spanking me before you suck my dick and bend over for me, you need to stop bossing me around. Got it?"

I'm still so angry that I'm tempted to tell him to go to hell, or launch myself at him and beat his head against the asphalt. But that's what he wants. He wants me to go after him so he can show me that he's in charge, and he definitely fucking isn't. Turning away from him, I start the car and look back at Daphne. She's got a slight smile on her face and I want to slap it off her more than anything in the world. Instead, I just smile back. "Get out of my fucking car."

"What?" Her eyes widen a little and I point toward the door.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Fucking. Car." I enunciate each word clearly and she looks past me at Aftyn. "Don't look at him! I'm driving now and I want you out of my goddamn car."

"Why don't you make her get out of the car, Willa?" Aftyn has leaned too close to me, speaking right against the shell of my ear, and I can feel the heat of his breath on his next exhale. "Show her what you're made of."

Bringing my elbow back hard, I'm surprised when I actually catch him in the ribs, and he starts laughing as he backs off.

"Your choice, Wills. But if you don't have the ovaries to kick her out yourself, then I think she's going to hang around a little longer." Grinning, Aftyn walks as slow as fucking possible around the front of the SUV, and I'm so tempted to run him over, or drive off without him. Leave him in the same kind of miserable, roadside hole he left Dexter in—but then I'd still be stuck with Daphne, and halfway across the US for no goddamn reason.

So, I just slam the door and grip the steering wheel until my knuckles turn white.

Aftyn is taking his sweet time, stretching his back out beside the car, and I don't think I've ever wanted to hurt him this much. He always pisses me off, he likes to push my buttons, but killing Dexter was too far and he knows it. When he finally gets in, I give him the same courtesy he gave me when we left Dexter behind—absolutely none. I throw the SUV into drive and speed out of the parking lot before he even has his door shut.

Unfortunately, all Aftyn does is chuckle under his breath, as he adjusts himself in the seat and buckles up. Reaching in front of my face, he plucks his pack of cigarettes from the visor, and I just grit my teeth as I listen to him light up, cracking his window when we hit the highway again. I want him to suffer, and the only way I can think of doing it right now is by letting Daphne in on his stupid fucking secret.

"Hey Daphne, since you're apparently following us around like a bad case of herpes, why don't you ask Aftyn about why we're going to Arizona?" I glance up at her in the rear-view and she meets my eyes for a moment before she stares at the back of the headrest in front of her. I can see Aftyn's jaw muscle twitching, and I smile as I turn to face the highway again.

It takes a minute for Daphne to build up the courage, but she finally breaks the quiet. "Why are you going to Arizona?"

"None of your business."

"He's going to meet his daddy for the first time," I answer her, smiling at Aftyn when he glares at me with a flash of rage. "His mom was a bitch, but she's been gone a while now. She hated Aftyn because he looked so much like his dad, and now that I've seen a picture?" I blow out a breath, laughing as I see Aftyn's face flushing red with anger. "It's kind of weird how similar they look. Why don't you show her, Aftyn?"

"You're going to pay for that, Willa," he threatens me, and I do exactly what he always does to me when he gets under my skin. I just smile and show him that he doesn't scare me at all.

If we're keeping count, I'm ahead of him on this trip. Two bodies to one. And it's not like Dex would have hurt Aftyn, or fought back. He was in love with him.

"Does your dad know you're coming?" Daphne asks, and for the first time since the bitch showed up, I'm actually glad she's here. At least she's finally being useful.

Aftyn turns around in his seat to stare at her. "Hey, since you seem so keen on using that fucking hole in your face right now, and Willa's busy being a raging bitch, why don't I slide back there and let you suck me off?"

"Um..." Daphne stutters, and I think it's cute that she might actually be flustered by Aftyn's caustic bullshit. I'm so used to his comments that I mostly ignore them, but I'm pretty sure he's serious about the blowjob. It's all he's wanted out of her on this ride anyway.

"Is that a no?" Aftyn asks, sneering at her. "Then shut the fuck up."

An awkward silence falls over the car, but it's only awkward for Daphne and Aftyn so I really don't give a shit. I just push the speed limit, hovering between five and ten miles over as I follow the highway signs toward Texas. I didn't even realize we'd arrived in Oklahoma, which means we're finally over the halfway mark on this nightmare road trip.

Hopefully now that I've baited Aftyn, he'll do something about Daphne sooner rather than later. I'm done with her, done with listening to his shit and his threats. He likes to pretend we're best friends, but I've always treated him better than he's ever treated me. I've been a better friend every step of the way.

Eventually I fill the silence with a decent radio station, keeping the volume at a more reasonable level. Both Daphne and Aftyn are leaned against the passenger side of the car, and I don't know if they're trying to sleep or just trying to avoid interacting, but it doesn't matter. I appreciate the peace and quiet and the absence of any of Aftyn's bullshit or Daphne's annoyingly fake voice.

Letting the simmering anger fuel the drive makes the hours pass by fast, and I realize that the only benefit of this much flat land is that the sunset is pretty fantastic. It paints the clouds in a wild array of pinks and oranges, catching the sky on fire as we chase the sunset.

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